
The Central Colorado Climate Coalition is excited to announce….Earth Day 2023!
This year’s festival will be a lighter version of the event we put on in 2022, highlighting the Parade For The Species, and an afternoon of talks INSIDE at the Salida Scout Hut . Coordinating so many people and organizations last year was a pleasure, but a very time intensive one. We also learned last year, that the severe winds so frequently present in spring are just not conducive to the type of outdoor festival with community booths and picnics that we had envisioned. The parade was the most popular part of the event, so we have decided to focus primarily on that, and follow it up with a smaller indoor event featuring local speakers and organizations working hard on sustainability issues locally. We hope this extra time community members have to really get to know the local volunteers and groups taking actions in our valley will inspire a wave of support for their work and eagerness to take part in collaborating on important sustainability issues. A complete line up of speakers will be published in coming weeks- stay tuned!
Below are the details of the event so far:
Date and times:
Earth Day is Saturday April 22. We will host the Parade For the Species from 11am to 12pm, and the Act Locally! Speaker Series, in the afternoon 1-3pm.
Location: The parade will march down its traditional route, meeting at Alpine Park in Salida, and marching down F Street to Riverside Park. We will be hosting the after-parade event INDOORS this year at the Salida Scout Hut at Riverside Park. Indoor attendees will be limited to 75 people due to space restrictions. Tickets by donation at the door- arrive early!
Community Participation: Everyone is welcome at the parade! Community members are encouraged to dress up as one of their favorite plant, animal, or insect species, and march, bike, or frolic with us in the parade. Local environmentally-minded organizations are also very welcome, and this year, we ask you to find a way to promote your groups in a way that embraces wind and movement, instead of at a stationary booth. Banners, flags, moving performances, and earth-friendly hand outs are all encouraged. If you would like to participate with a larger float, performance, or something more than just marching with the parade, please contact our volunteer coordinator for more information.
We also encourage local groups to host their own satellite events either early in the morning, or after 3pm, which we will happily help promote here on our online calendar and in Facebook posts.
More details about Earth Day and the Parade For the Species will be advertised in the coming weeks. If you would like to participate as an organization, include your organization’s event or work in the promotion materials, or volunteer with us in any way, please email our volunteer coordinator, Angie Thompson at climatecolorado@gmail.com or fill out our short volunteer form here: https://forms.gle/V4LtBhm5pNPRr1k9A